Burning
by Salomedancing
Summary: Sarah Jane finds life on Earth very boring after the Doctor. Then she meets a stranger who is anything but.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Warnings for this story; sex and light BDSM, mostly powerplay. ****Consensual, but rather dysfunctional relationship, but then, can any relationship the Master has be anything else? Written just for fun, I started it to have something not so angsty to write on when I wrote Solace and For Now Left and Forlorn. As it often is when I write fic, this one has a soundtrack; Dave Gahan's Deeper and Deeper. The lyrics are not work safe. I would probably not have written this if I hadn't read LilacFree's excellent Queen and Mistress, a Master/Peri-fic which balance consensual BDSM with a sense of real danger in a way I can't even hope to manage. And I hope my fic doesn't read as plagiarism even if it is certainly influenced. The Master in this story is the one played by Anthony Ainley.**

The science convention Sarah Jane had been sent to follow had proved to be a total bore. She was sure that at least a few of the scientists were certifiable geniuses, but speakers they were not. Or they droned on about things that Sarah Jane knew were completely wrong, only she couldn't say anything about it because she had learnt it from the Doctor. But she persisted because she would make good money out of it. She had placed herself at the back of the room, at the end of a row, hoping to keep herself a bit apart from the rest of the crowd. The first day she had several empty chairs beside her, but on day two a man came and sat beside her. He was a good-looking man with dark hair and a neat beard. He looked, sharp, Sarah Jane thought. A sharp dark suit, a sharp white smile and sharp blue eyes. Eventually she added a sharp wit as he sometimes leaned over to her to deliver something snarky about the various speakers in a sotto voce voice.

She met him again in the evening at the hotel bar. He politely asked her if he could buy her a drink and Sarah Jane accepted. He was funny after all and rather charming and it was boring to nurse a drink all alone. So he made her laugh with a rather cruel dissection of the other customer's of the bar and managed to buy her more drinks than she usually had.

"Are you trying to get me drunk?"

His smile glinted. "Do I really need to if I want to get you into bed?"

He wasn't her type at all, but on the other hand, just about every man she met nowadays wasn't her type. And then and there Sarah Jane decided that she didn't care about that. It might be a good thing that he looked like a complete opposite to the Doctor. She suddenly felt that going to bed with someone who was not the Doctor, was just what she needed. And he wasn't boring in the least. Since she came home she had been out with very few men and they had all bored her to tears.

"No, you don't," she said and put down her glass. "Let's go. My room."

To her satisfaction she could see a brief surprise in his eyes even if he smoothed it over quickly. He kissed her in the lift, leaving her breathless and again at her door. Demanding, but not hurried kisses that made Sarah Jane's knees feel rather weak. However, when she reached inside her bag for her key, he stopped her hand.

"Just one thing before you invite me in to your room. If you do, then I will be the one in command. You have no say in what I do or tell you to do." He smiled and she suddenly though he looked like a hungry wolf. "I can promise you that you will like it."

Sarah Jane frowned. "I don't much care for power games."

"But I do. I'm giving you a fair warning and you are free to say no. In that case I will bid you good night and leave."

She hesitated. Her body was telling her in no uncertain terms of what it wanted her to do, but she could also feel a small thrill, a shiver down her spine she had long ago learned to connect with approaching danger. She didn't even know his name, she realised, for some reason she hadn't asked and he hadn't volunteered and wasn't that very strange? Her mouth opened to say no, but she was disturbed by a sound. When she looked up, the elderly gentleman who had the room next to hers was standing there, glaring at them both in deep disapproval. Her company gave him another of his feral smiles and bent down to kiss Sarah Jane behind the ear, nuzzling her skin in a way that weakened her knees even further. She couldn't help to giggle at the outrage radiating from the old man as he entered his room and slammed the door shut. And the moment of doubt had passed and Sarah Jane pushed the feeling of not quite right away. After all, they were at a hotel full of people and someone, evidently, knew who she had taken to her room.

Inside he let go of her and leaned against the door, arms crossed.

"Undress," he commanded.

Sarah Jane bristled a little; she disliked being ordered around, but his eyes smiled at her, daring her to object and she decided to continue to play along his game. She wasn't ashamed over her body, so she turned to face him fully and undressed slowly, but without any pretense of coyness. When she was finished she looked him straight into the eye with some defiance.

"Well? Do I satisfy?"

He laughed, a short bark of a laugh and she had once again a feeling she had done something unexpected. He took her in his arms and kissed her again.

"You are beautiful," he told her. His hands caressed her, down her neck and back and then up, cupping her breasts and then brushing over her nipples and Sarah Jane felt as if she was on fire. "Very beautiful. And now you undress me."

Sarah Jane fumbled with the buttons in his jacket and then, to try to regain her composure she focused on the clothes instead of what his hands were doing. They were a pure tactile pleasure to handle, the smooth, almost silky softness of the wool in his jacket, the real silk in the tie and the wholly different smoothness of the cotton of his shirt. Expensive fabrics, not anything she had ever come close to afford to wear, but she could tell the quality was good nevertheless.

Once his upper body was bare she stopped. He was nice to look at, very nice indeed with a lean muscularity that made the fire inside her flare up again. She reached out to touch him, but he swatted her hands away.

"Not yet. Kneel for me first, you haven't finished."

Sarah Jane obeyed. It ought to feel silly or awkward, but somehow it didn't. Perhaps because she could sense that he was completely serious. She removed his shoes and socks, but then she hesitated and looked up at him.

"Go on," he told her and she unzipped his trousers. He made a sound of impatience and his hand suddenly locked inside her hair, dragging her up a bit as he freed his hard cock. When she gasped in surprise, he invaded her mouth, thrusting harshly. Sarah Jane had not expected this and somewhat alarmed she struggled a little. It might have evolved into panic, but then he released her hair, only holding his hand around the back of her head. She regained her composure and found a rhythm, but before long he pulled her up into his arms again.

"Very good, my dear."

He steered her to the bed and made her lay down on her back. He spread her legs and after he had removed his trousers he kneeled down between them. Once again his hands moved over her body, caressing her and then he kissed her throat and breasts. His sharp teeth grazed her nipples, almost hurting her and Sarah Jane arched her back for more, but he moved further down, kissing her belly and then she could feel his tongue between her legs. Sarah Jane moaned, she was already more aroused than she had ever been and it didn't take her long to reach her climax, muffling a scream into the pillow.

While she was still in the throes of her orgasm he flipped her over, and made her stand on her hands and knees before he entered her, his hands gripping her hips so hard she was sure they would leave bruises. Sarah Jane had lovers before, of course, but none like this. He was far rougher than she was sure she even liked, except that it made her feel like she was ablaze with desire. She reached back a hand and touched herself and came once more before he did.

He let go of her and she sank down on the bed and curled up on her side, panting hard. He lay down behind her, placing a hand, heavy and possessive on her hip. It felt too cool against her over-heated skin and as Sarah Jane regained control over her breathing, she also found that she didn't quite liked how it felt. And she still didn't know his name, and now when the fire was dwindling into a glowing ember, that made her feel uncomfortable. She sat up but before she could rise from the bed his hand closed on her arm like a vice.

"Where are you going?"

No, she really didn't like this, Sarah Jane felt. "I just need to go to the bathroom."

He released her. "Very well. Don't be long."

"Actually," Sarah Jane paused at the open door into the bathroom. "I think it would be best if you left now. Don't wait for me to come out again."

She stepped inside quickly and locked the door before he could answer. Inside she washed and wrapped herself into a large bath towel all the while she listened for sounds from the other room. It was completely silent, and Sarah Jane frowned. What if he didn't leave? Well, the bathroom was warm, and she had spent nights in more uncomfortable places. If he decided to wait her out, she would stay in the bathroom. The cleaning lady would show up the next day and it would be safe to leave. Perhaps she was over-reacting, but there had been something that had disturbed her from the start and now that nagged at her, making her unwilling to be confronted with the man in her room again.

She jumped when the door handle rattled. "Come out, Sarah Jane."

His voice carried through the wood of the door despite not being raised and it made her shiver, somehow his words sounded like a threat.

"No, I think I want to take a bath and I'm really very tired. It was very nice, but please, leave my room now."

There was a brief pause before he spoke again. His voice was still soft and low, but it made Sarah Jane jerk away from the door as if it had burned her.

"Let me in, little human. I am not done with you yet."


	2. Chapter 2

Sarah Jane's heart beat faster as adrenaline shot through her body. The faint feeling of not quite right was in an instant transformed into a roaring very wrong. He was not a human, after all her travels she ought to have spotted that at once. She would have if she had still been in the Doctor, Sarah Jane was sure, but in her normal life, well, she hadn't expected it. But some part of her brain had realised it and had tried to warn her from the start, but she hadn't listened.

There was a metal nail file in her travelling case, the only thing in the bathroom that resembled a weapon. She fetched it and then thought over her options. They were depressingly few, just the same as before. There were no windows to call for help from and the safest thing to do was to stay put until the next day, assuming the man on the other side wasn't planning to kill off half the hotel. Sarah Jane hoped he wasn't, she had to allow that she had met more than a few aliens who wouldn't hesitate at the prospect of mass murder.

He pushed down the door handle again and then it was slowly pushed even further down. The door creaked and the handletwisted, and to Sarah Jane's horror it broke away and the door swung open. Definitely not human, much too strong for that, she thought as she backed up against the wall.

"What are you?" Sarah Jane demanded when he entered the bathroom. To her relief he had at least put on his trousers, though she fervently wished that she was wearing more than just a bath towel.

"Who I am is probably a better question to ask. The Doctor used to be such a terrible gossip, I wonder if you can guess?"

He moved faster than she expected and grabbed her wrists and wrenched the nail file out of her hand even before she had a chance to try to use it. Then he pressed her palms against his bare chest. Sara Jane struggled against it to no avail. When she calmed down he continued to hold her hands, a peculiar smile on his lips. She stared up at him, she knew that she had never seen him before this day, but then she noticed the double heart beats.

"Time Lord," she breathed and his smile broadened. And from what the Doctor had told her, it was really just one Time Lord he could be. "You are the Master."

"Good girl, I knew you would figure it out. You are obviously one of his brighter pets."

"What do you want with me?"

"I thought that was rather obvious."

Fear made her sarcastic. "Of course, the only reason you would go looking for someone who know the Doctor; to seduce her. Yeah, that sounds very likely."

He seemed unruffled by her outburst. "That wasn't my first plan, I assure you. I had planned to kill you. He let me burn, you see. He stood there and listened to my pleas and didn't move a muscle. So I thought I would go and look for one of his little friends, one of the most special ones, and let her burn in return."

The Master smiled down at her, shifting his grip to gather her wrists in just one hand. He stroke away a stray lock of her hair, then he let his finger run along her throat and she shivered. "And I have made you burn, haven't I, Sarah Jane?"

She really didn't care to answer that even if her treacherous body responded to his touch with a new spark of lust. "Well then, you have had your fun and now you are going to kill me. I feel so flattered."

"As a matter of fact; no. I rather think it will be more fun to let you live."

"And you expect me to believe that?"

"Perhaps not. I did kill your Doctor after all. Don't look so stricken, he regenerated, of course. You wouldn't recognise him anymore, he made himself young and pretty this time. But he is just as ruthless as he ever was, he is still the Doctor. So it will be very amusing to imagine what you will say to him if he ever turns up again. Or not say, for that matter. Will you tell him about this night and see how much it will hurt him? And how angry at himself he will be because he will know that he is partly to blame. Or you will not tell him and he will strain his ears to listen to echoes of untold thoughts because he can't fail to notice that something missing. What a delightful little torture for my dear Doctor, and I just have to leave you breathing to make it happen. That is a small price, I think."

"That's not fair," Sarah Jane protested.

He snorted. "Not fair? After what he did to me? And, my dear, after what he did to you."

"The Doctor never did anything to me."

"Didn't he? I beg to differ. Poor little Sarah Jane, does it make you feel better to delude yourself that he didn't hurt you? Sweeping you away to galactic adventures, getting you addicted to the danger and the adrenaline kicks, and then he just dumps you back on boring old Earth. No wonder you feel frustrated, it radiates from you like heat."

Sarah Jane twisted in his grip, trying to push him away. "Stop it. I don't want to hear."

But the Master continued relentlessly.

"I know you felt afraid of me, almost from the start, and it felt so good, didn't it? Exciting. You have missed the feeling of danger so much that you went to bed with a stranger that scared you, just for the rush. That's what he did to you. And he, he is running around the universe as if nothing has happened with another little pretty brunette who never stops talking. And she is not even the first one since he abandoned you. While you waited for him to come back, day after day. Worrying that something had happened to him, but you really didn't believe that- he is like a cat, always end up on his feet. How long did it take for you to realise that he could have come back for you just a few minutes after he left if he had wanted to? He has a time machine after all."

He was searching her face intently with cold blue eyes, watching her distress with obvious satisfaction. "Still, you must have meant something; at least he abandoned you back home. You do know that not everyone who travels with him is that lucky?"

Sarah Jane felt like screaming. The Master's words struck with precision at just those places it hurt the most. How angry she had been when the Doctor never came back and how painful it had been. And even if she was loathe admitting it, that she had missed the exhilaration danger made her feel. He couldn't have known all that from just a few hours of acquaintance. She eyed the Master with suspicion.

"How long have you been observing me?"

"Oh, for some time, on and off. I know you quite well by now. I still don't understand how the Doctor can stand to have humans around all the time, but as a passing diversion you do well."

He leaned in on her, much too close and Sarah Jane thought he was about to kiss her again. She turned her head abruptly away, and he chuckled.

"You in particular do exceptionally well, Sarah Jane."

She knew she ought to be more scared than angry, but for a moment anger ruled and she struggled against him again. "Let go of me!"

To her surprise he did. It didn't matter; he was still looming over her, effectively blocking her only escape route. She rubbed her wrists and glared at him.

"So you have spied on me, how charming. And you have had your chance to gloat too now, so if you don't plan to kill me, why don't you leave now?"

"Oh no. I told you, I'm not done with you yet."

"But I'm most definitely through with you."

Despite it all she tried to dart past him, hoping to startle him enough to let her slid away. It didn't succeed; he reached out a long arm without apparent haste and swung her back against the wall. Sarah Jane tried to kick him and he took hold of her arms, lifting her so she stood on an uncomfortable tiptoe and somehow ripping away the towel in the process.

"Now, now, behave yourself."

"Or you do what? Hit me? Rape me?"

"Not at all. I just propose that we go back to bed now." He looked down on her naked body and his smile glinted white. "I promise I will only hurt you as much as you like me to. And tomorrow we part and go our separate ways."

"Danger, danger," Sarah Jane's blood sang with every heartbeat. The Master was already hurting her, her arms ached from his bracing hold. She looked up at him, knowing he was far more ruthless than she and stronger and a liar. Whatever he had said, she might not survive this night. And despite it all she wanted him so badly right now that it ached. Or perhaps, she had to acknowledge; just because he was who he was and because of the very real peril she was in. He knew it as well, she could see it in the malicious mockery in his eye, but the only thing he did was to let go of her. Instead he placed his hands on each side of her instead, still trapping her but allowing her to sink back on her feet. All with the air of a man who was waiting and willing to wait for a very long time if need be. Waiting for her to decide, she thought and wondered if they would stand like that for the whole night if she didn't move.

"If I survive this, I will regret it," Sarah Jane thought and took a step forward, dragging down his head so she could kiss him, as she raked her sharp nails hard down his back, drawing blood. He snapped his head back and for brief moment she could see she had surprised him. The Master grinned and before she had time to react he picked her up in his arms and carried her back into the room.

END


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: I hadn't planned to continue this story, but I wasn't completely satisfied with the ending. Hopefully it feels a bit more finished now.**

The Master threw Sarah Jane on the bed and she turned to him before he had time to touch her again.

"I'm not complying with your orders anymore. If you want my submission, you will have to take it."

He pounced at her, faster than any human and she fought him. He laughed at her and it was indeed laughable, Sarah Jane thought, to fight someone who could tear you apart with his bare hands. But it felt good to clash against his strength, to rage against a merciless force. It was harsher, crueller; this time around as if Sarah Jane's knowledge of whom she had invited to bed had set the Master free to indulge himself. And she answered in kind.

She reared up against him, her teeth sinking into his arm and then she was pinned down, his body hard and unyielding against her. The Master twisted her hands above her head and kissed her, his teeth in turn tearing her lower lip so her mouth filled with the taste of blood. But if his touch was cruel, his voice was soft, like velvet against her ears.

"You are quite magnificent, my Sarah Jane."

"I'm not yours!"

"Oh yes, tonight you are. Right now you are all mine."

And it was glorious. Lust and fear and anger set her ablaze over and over, not in the least dampened by her knowledge that in a sense she was fighting for her life. She put no trust in the Master's promise not to kill her; she courted death tonight. Sarah Jane had learned one thing in the bathroom, something she doubted the Master wanted her to know. He may be the antithesis of the Doctor, but they were still both Time Lords, and they shared the same battle a long life inevitable brought; boredom.

He had studied her before he had approached her and then he had spent time with her as is she was a new and interesting toy. His decision not to kill her outright was, she was sure, because she amused him more alive. For now. It was terrifyingly easy to conjure up what would happen if she failed to please him. If she had panicked when he broke into the bathroom, would she lay in a sorry heap with a broken neck now? Or if she had meekly submitted, would she have survived that? A strangled corpse for the cleaning lady to find, it was easy to imagine that too.

She had surprised him a few times during the evening, behaved in ways he hadn't expected and she hoped that would keep him interested enough to let her live. He certainly took pleasure in her fear, but he brought fear with him wherever he went. He must be used to the desperation those he was about to destroy felt. She was sure people had tried to bargain their lives with their bodies before, and she was equally sure it hadn't worked. But her passion was as real as her terror. It may have come from it in the beginning, but it had taken a life on its own. It had turned into a fierce creature that relished in her situation, however desperate it may be and it would fight, tooth and claw, for her survival.

Sometime during the night Sarah Jane fell asleep, and she slept until she woke up with a start at dawn, grey light filling the room. She sat up in bed and looked around her in near panic even before she remembered what had happened and why her heart was beating so hard. But the room was empty, even if she had to walk around it and peek into the wardrobe, the bathroom and even under the bed before she truly believed she was alone. The Master was gone, and she was still alive. She wondered if her sleep had surprised him too, not many would be able to do so with a wild beast in the room. But she had been so exhausted, both body and soul and deeply convinced that if he wanted to kill her, he would want to see the look in her eyes as life escaped her. He could easily have roused her, but had not, instead he had quietly slipped away.

Would the Master come back? That was an unsettling thought. It would be easy enough for him to return and she couldn't imagine anything she could do to stop him. Hopefully he had got what he wanted and would leave her alone now. Surely she must be very insignificant to him, someone easy to forget. Sarah Jane hoped so anyway. She still locked the door and after some consideration put the back of a chair under the door handle. It was a silly thing to do against someone who could choose to materialise his TARDIS wherever he wanted to, but it made her feel a bit safer. The bathroom door was, of course, beyond repair. Sarah Jane looked at it and sighed, she would be forced to pay for that, she supposed.

The hotel could provide adequate amounts of warm water and she ran a bath as hot as she could stand. Her whole body felt sore and aching, but the hot water soothed it away somewhat. She closed her eyes and tried to relax, but her frazzled nerves made her jump even at the occasional odd sound from the plumbing system.

Finally alone she could think of the things the Master had told her last night, things she had had to push to the back of her mind when faced with the more immediate danger he presented. The Doctor was gone, and she had slept with the man who had murdered him. Sarah Jane pulled up her legs against her chest and hugged them tightly and cried. She knew he wasn't dead; she had been with him when he regenerated before, but her Doctor would never come back again. She had loved the one he had been before and she was sure she would love the one he was now, if she ever met him, but the man she had loved most was dead. Now she could stop waiting for him. Though he had not meant it, the Master had relieved her of one burden; the hope of seeing her Doctor again.

Occasionally Sarah Jane had indulged herself in a fantasy where the Doctor returned and begged her to travel with him again and she said no. She had taken great pleasure in imagining how his face would fall, how hurt he would be of her refusal. Now when she had been handed a real weapon, one that could do real damage she found she didn't want it. If she ever met the Doctor again, she would never tell him of what had happened between her and the Master.

There was still someone who must know, however awkward that made her feel. The Master was much too much of a threat to keep a secret. She had seen UNIT's dossier over the Master and though there was a superficial likeness between his old face and his new, they would need an upgraded description. Not to mention the fact that the Doctor had regenerated again.

She was supposed to cover the last day of the convention, but instead she made a phone call to UNIT with a special message to Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart. The annoyingly perky young voice at the end of the line was initially unwilling to disturb his superior at home at this early hour. Sarah Jane spoke very slowly and repeated her name, the Doctor and the Master along with urgent and very important until he promised to call. She only had to wait a few minutes before she was called back, not by the person man she had just spoken to, but the Brigadier himself.

"Miss Smith, are you unharmed?" He sounded worried and Sarah Jane felt a surge of affection for him, he sounded so safe and solid and comforting. She assured him that there was nothing wrong with her and he told her to stay at the hotel room and wait for an escort which had already been dispatched from UNIT.

Sarah Jane spent her waiting time packing her belongings and making sure her hair and makeup was immaculate. Her encounter with the Master had left bruises, but they were easy to hide with clothing. She looked critically at her swollen lip, but then decided to put on lip gloss and pretend she looked fine.

When she was finished she sat down and tried to collect her thoughts and what she would say to the Brig. She could imagine him, perhaps a little greyer and a bit stouter than when she had seen him last. The expression on his face when she told him and how his voice would sound; completely outraged and baffled.

"You went to bed with whom?"

And then, because it would be easiest to latch on to something akin to normal, he would lecture her on the dangers of picking up strange men in hotel bars. A speech he probably already had rehearsed in wait for the time his daughter would be old enough for it. Sarah Jane smiled a little. She felt that a lecture from the Brigadier like she was an unruly teenager would feel rather consoling. It would make the whole experience a little more mundane, a bit easier to cope with.

There was a knock on the door sooner than she had expected, but then UNIT had people all over the country. Outside stood an escort in the shape of two respectful young soldiers, none that Sarah Jane knew.

"Miss Smith," they greeted her and the most senior of them stepped inside and surveyed the room. He took in the broken bathroom door and turned to her in alarm. "What happened here? Are you hurt?"

"Yes, I mean no, I'm not hurt." Sarah Jane, feeling self-conscious straightened the collar of her blouse knowing it hid the marks the Master's fingers had put on her throat. "I'm fine. I'm glad you are here."

When they came into the lobby they met her disapproving neighbour. He seemed to regard her military escort with satisfaction, evidently thinking she was in trouble. He wagged a finger at her.

"Young lady, let that be a lesson!"

Sarah Jane couldn't help it; she burst out laughing and was still laughing when they left the hotel.


End file.
